Foldable strollers, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,441 issued to Arai; U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,735 issued to Onishi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,887 issued to Takahashi, et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,740 issued to Hartenstine, have an articulated stroller frame that allows the stroller to fold from its use configuration to its collapsed configuration. These strollers include soft goods made of fabric, such as a seat, back support, canopy, storage basket, etc., covering parts of the stroller frame. The back support can be movably configured between a sitting position and a recumbent or lying position. These strollers also have left- and right-side hinge locks, between the respective left- and right-side push arms of the handlebar frame and the left- and right-side rear legs, to maintain the stroller in the operating configuration.
In such strollers, and other foldable strollers, the canopy frame or bow is typically attached to the push arms or the hinge locks. Consequently, the position of the canopy frame, relative to the push arms, remains fixed at all times, between its open position and its closed position. When the stroller is folded, the canopy frame is at its closed position. But since the canopy frame position is fixed relative to the push arms, if a relatively large canopy is used, the canopy frame can protrude beyond the handlebar. Particularly since a larger canopy is desirable to protect infants from exposure to sunlight, the stroller can become bulkier. Accordingly, there is a need for a stroller that can be made more compact, particularly with the use of a larger canopy.
Further, it is desirable for the stroller to have ergonomically correct handlebar, which typically is the cross bar member extending across the push arms, for comfort and control. For added comfort to the caretaker, the handlebar angle can be adjusted relative to the push arms, as disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,835 issued to Huang and U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,805 issued to Wang. Including such an adjustable handlebar, however, makes it more difficult to provide a remote hinge-lock actuator on the handlebar, which typically needs a Bowden cable or similar arrangements to allow for the handlebar to rotate without actuating the hinge locks. In this respect, U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,718 discloses a simple, cable operated remote hinge-lock actuator positioned adjacent to the handlebar. It would be desirable to incorporate a simple cable-operated remote hinge-lock actuator into the existing structure.
Moreover, it would be desirable for the stroller to carry an infant car carrier. While many different configurations for that purpose have been contemplated, there still remains a need for a stroller that is configured to secure an infant car carrier in two or more reclined or tilted positions.
The present invention addresses these needs.